SOCIOLOGY 101

SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVEPaper # 1

Victor Grigorov 2/22/2012

SOCIOLOGY 101: Sociological Perspectives Paper

When studying sociology, everyone is going to approach topics in a different method. The way we see the world from an outside point of view is called social imagination or perception. The sociological imagination, a concept that has been introduced to the world by C. Wright Mills, basically says that a person lives out a biography, and lives it out with some historical importance (Ferris 16). That means that everyone gets to live their personal life and individual experience, but at the same time they contribute to the changes in history through their experiences which in turn creates the historical sequence. This is why in our society today no two people are going to have the exact same point of view on a particular subject. Nevertheless, there are three major categories in which people might go about and choose how to approach a certain topic. The approaches are known today as sociological perspectives and are the structural functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism perspectives (Ferris 43). These perspectives name diverse ways in which different people decide how to analyze a subject, and how they look and feel about society as a whole. In this paper, I will compare and contrast the three perspectives, and identify major characteristics of each one. Structural functionalists, or just functionalists, believe that society functions as a whole object that has multiple structures that govern all of its actions and stability (Ferris 44). This perspective looks at a society in a positive approach and sees it as stable, with all of its structures working in unity (Ferris 44). In this model, peace and social order is maintained through the cooperation of individuals as members of their own society. There are three major people who were for the most part the main contributors in the progress of the functionalist perspective; they

are Emile Durkheim, Auguste Comte, and Herbert Spencer (Ferris 44). Each one of them studied different structures in society, and contributed to the overall aspect of what structural functionalism is today. Unlike the conflict theory, these sociologists firmly believed in a unified structured model. That is why everything was perceived in a big picture from a macro sociological point of view. Everything is viewed as having a manifested, or stated, function as well as a latent, or a hidden function. This overall generic concern with the stability of the unit and the elimination of dysfunction in society is just as much a basis for this type of theory as much as a flaw (Sociology). It does absolutely nothing to explain what drives the individual unit to succeed and progress, but only puts the individual in a so called institution, and tries to explain its meager existence. This is where conflict theorists come in and try to prove and explain this concept with their point of view. Unlike functionalism, the conflict theory bases everything not on the unity of societal culture, but on the constant socio-economic struggle that occurs between different classes of people. In contrast to the functionalist view of stability, conflict sociologists see our society as being in constant struggle. Founded by the famous German thinker, Karl Marx, the conflict theory emphasizes its point of view from the negative and ever changing nature of our society today (McClelland). As the book states, Conflict theory proposes that conflict and tension are basic facts of social life and suggests that people have disagreements over goals and values and are involved in struggles over both resources and power (Ferris 46). Karl Marx suggested that if these tensions in our society are missing, then people will be more inclined to achieve higher goals and education for themselves (Ferris 46). This is why he strived so much to bring about socialism and equality for all people. Just like functionalism, the conflict theory viewed society through a macro sociological level. As for each individual, they are perceived as being shaped by control and

power. Social order is perceived as being maintained not through cooperation, but through force. And social change is not as predictable just like in functionalism, but is constantly evolving throughout time (McClelland). The conflict perspective's main idea is that there are opposing interests between different classes and social inequality exists, therefore there is always conflict of some kind. And although that explains a large part, and is part of our society today, it doesnt address the smaller and more subtle issues. Unlike the two perspectives above, symbolic interactionists focus the sociological view on the micro level, and on face-to-face interactions between people (Ferris 50). This type of perspective was born with the teachings of George H. Mead and Max Weber (McClelland). Both of them based their perspective from their point of view as humans, rather than society like functionalism. The core view of symbolic interactions is that we as humans in our society individually influence each others everyday social interactions. By studying the small scale interactions, interactionists better understand the larger macro sociological picture. When people share those interactions and each others understanding of the world, stability is formed and there is no dysfunction. All of these interactions involve some kind of symbols, and the way they are interpreted determines how people act towards one another. Anything in our world can serve as a symbol of interaction as long as it refers to something beyond itself (Sociology). Just like binary code serves as a way of executing computer programs, verbal language serves as a major symbol for us humans. Although this perspective focuses on the micro view of our society, it can sometimes miss the big picture, and that can in turn cause more structural problem and cause more dysfunction in our society. In the world we live today, people often tend to view their personal problems as social problems, and try to connect their individual experiences with the mechanism of society. And that

is completely reasonable. Mills believed that this is the right way for people to gain a knowledge and understanding of their personal dilemmas. The sociological perspective helps people connect their own problems with public problems and their history. In order for an individual to figure out the causes of their problems, they first have to be able to understand the causes of the problems in the society in which they are living in. The sociological perspective tries to come up with causes for certain social trends and provides a structure for understanding the social world we live in. Having a sociological perspective is fundamental since it is important for individuals to have a way to relate their personal issues to of society as a unit.

Works Cited

Ferris, Kerry, and Jill Stein. The Real World an Introduction to Sociology. 2nd ed. New York: W.W. Norton &, 2010. Print

McClelland, Kent. "SOC-111-01 Introduction to Sociology--Spring2000--McClelland." 20 Feb. 200. Web. 20 Feb. 2012. .

"Sociology: Three Major Perspectives in Sociology." Web. 22 Feb. 2012. .